Departures Switzerland Spring 2021

50 DEPARTURES STYLE

50 DEPARTURES STYLE GETTING IT RIGHT Time for Change Recycled materials are making their way into sophisticated timepieces that take sustainability seriously. by Laurie Kahle The strap of Ulysse Nardin’s Diver Net is made with recycled plastic from the sea, and its case with upcycled fishing nets, ulyssenardin.com WHEN PANERAI LAUNCHED this year’s Guillaume Néry Special Edition Luminor Marina with a recycled PET Strap, CEO Jean-Marc Pontroué compared the piece to a warm-up exercise before running a marathon. The main event takes place in April, when Panerai unveils the first watch made from 100 per cent recycled materials – including the movement. “Sustainability started to occupy us at Panerai about two years ago,” Pontroué says, recalling a conversation he had with brand ambassador Mike Horn. The explorer-adventurer told him that there was pollution even in the world’s most remote places and encouraged the brand to take steps to help reduce it. Since then, Panerai has incorporated recycled materials in a number of watches, such as last year’s Mike Horn Submersible EcoPangaea Tourbillon with a case made with metal taken from the shaft of Horn’s amphibious boat, Pangaea. Another 2020 piece commemorated the brand’s partnership with the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team, official challenger for the 36th America’s Cup. The PAM1096 Luminor Luna Rossa GMT’s dial is made from

9 recycled carbon fibre used for the boats’ hulls. And the aforementioned Néry limited edition expanded the brand’s use of recycled PET straps, the most common recycled element in watches today. Building a fully recycled watch is the ultimate manifestation of a corporate culture shift that has positioned environmental impact at the front of the mind across the board. “When it comes to product development, in the past, we started to think about it when everything was finished,” says Pontroué. “But today’s ecological programme has us thinking about it before we even start.” The term “sustainable” has become ubiquitous, though its definition remains flexible. A useful perspective on development comes from the UN World Commission on Environment and Development: “Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Major corporate conglomerates Swatch Group, LVMH, Richemont and Kering have established dense, multilayered manifestos that address their corporate sustainability practices in great detail – from LEED-certified architecture to recycled packaging to energy-efficient lightbulbs in boutiques. Brands large and small – including Rolex, Blancpain, Omega, Oris and Carl F Bucherer – have partnered with groups engaged in scientific research and conservation of the oceans and crucial water sources. Some even donate a portion of the sales of special editions to their causes, directly engaging the client in support. Hublot’s limitededition Big Bang Unico SORAI, for example, directs proceeds to Save Our Rhino Africa India (SORAI) to preserve rhinoceroses threatened with extinction. But incorporating recycled materials into the watch itself takes the sustainability concept to another level. Chopard’s Fairmined Gold programme assures that the gold it uses in watches and jewellery is ethically produced and fully traceable to the sources. The ethical gold was used in last year’s L.U.C XPS dress models as From from far left: Omega’s Seamaster Diver 300m Nekton Edition honours the marque’s partnership with the eponymous ocean research centre, omegawatches. com; a portion of sales for the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Ocean Commitment III Limited Edition supports ocean protection, blancpain.com; Panerai’s Guillaume Néry Special Edition Luminor Marina’s case is composed of sand-blasted titanium, and the strap with PET plastic, panerai.com well as in the Alpine Eagle sport-watch collection, which includes steel models produced with the brand’s Lucent Steel alloy, made with 70 per cent recycled stainless steel. Pontroué points out that even if clients aren’t yet asking for recycled watches, they will ask about a brand’s sustainability practices. He draws the comparison to similar sustainability efforts in the automotive, aviation and hotel industries. “I assure you that in the watch industry, you have to get initiated in this,” he says. “It is something that is extremely important for brands to communicate, to prove that what we do is true and not a marketing concept and try to be an open-book story – the more we can cooperate with other brands, the better.” DEPARTURES 51